I think I'm a part of the first generation of journalists to skip print media entirely, and I've learned a lot these last few years at Forbes. My work has appeared on TVOvermind, IGN, and most importantly, a segment on The Colbert Report at one point. Feel free to follow me on Twitter or on Facebook, write me on Facebook or just email at paultassi(at)gmail(dot)com. I'm also almost finished with my sci-fi novel series, The Earthborn Trilogy.

Microsoft's Xbox One May Be Losing The Console War Due To Kinect Alone

Working in this industry, I tend to make predictions quite a bit. Usually they pan out, like the bad feeling I had that the Wii U was going to bomb for NintendoNintendo without new appeal to non-gamers, or that Micosoft would be forced to changes its DRM/used game policies because of public outcry.

But sometimes I’m wrong. I went too far in my assumptions regarding MicrosoftMicrosoft, saying that the one final step they’d take would be to detach the Kinect from the Xbox One so they were able to match Sony'sSony's $400 price point. They announced that the Xbox One would no longer need the Kinect to function, and the obvious next step was that they could then make it entirely optional.

They didn’t. I was wrong, and the Xbox One launched bound to Kinect at $500.

Now that both consoles are selling well, it’s easy to say that Microsoft made a perfectly fine call. But they are losing. When Sony comes out and says they’ve sold 2.1M units, and Microsoft PR responds by saying “50 million hours have been spent playing our games” instead of revealing their own numbers, that means they’re losing. By what margin, I’m not sure, but would they be on even footing were it not for the higher price point because of Kinect? Analyst Michael Patcher seems to think so.

“The reason Sony beats Microsoft is solely the price,” Pachter said. “Microsoft loses the next generation unless they cut price. If Microsoft drops its price to $399, I expect the sales to be equal to the PS4.”

The problem is that Microsoft can’t really afford to simply drop the price to $400 to match Sony without taking a huge loss on the console. Because of the hardware involved with each system, both companies are barely turning a profit on each unit. Microsoft might sell more by cutting, but if they’re losing money by doing so, that may not matter.

The question now is if the Kinect is offering enough value to justify putting Microsoft in a worse position than Sony during this holiday launch. So far, opinions are mixed.

While I have friends who like the little Kinect features like being able to shout out substitutions in FIFA, others like our own Erik Kain say that the system still isn’t perfect, which is especially frustrating for gesture and voice controls. Even if it works 95% of the time, that margin of error is what many users will remember as they try to get the system to do what they want by waving their hands or talking, when they could have just as easily pushed a button for a consistent result, every time.

And then there are the games. This new Kinect was supposed to have a whole host of new upgrades making it worthwhile for a variety of genres, but at launch, once again the only worthwhile titles appear to be fitness and dance games, just like last generation. Games that are trying to utilize the new capabilities of Kinect 2.0 are failing miserably like the widely derided Fighter Within, with an astonishingly bad 26 on Metacritic.

“Its gesture recognition is abysmal, its fighting is shallow, and it wastes too much time trying to clumsily tell a silly, unnecessary story. In short, it’s everything Microsoft promised Kinect 2.0 wouldn’t be.”

I just can’t find support for the argument that Kinect 2.0 has given Microsoft an edge over Sony. Perhaps it adds some value to the Xbox One, but $100 or more worth? I don’t think so. Take away Kinect, and you have two $400 system that are more or less equivalent. PS4 might have a slight edge in power, but I think Xbox One has a better launch line-up with the promise of more good exclusives on the horizon (Titanfall). But with Kinect, an increased price for not enough value might be all some consumers see.

This may change over time. Perhaps Kinect will continue to evolve and someday find its place as a sought-after accessory that overwhelmingly makes games better. But that’s what I said about the original Kinect, and its successor has yet to live up to that promise. I’m not convinced it ever will.

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These camera peripherals have been around in one form or another for a long time. While the tech has gotten better the idea of what to have people do with it hasn’t improved much. All the niche ideas are still the same as it relates to tilting your body or flailing wildly.

Thats not to say that the tech hasnt improved, its clear that kinect is trying to add value. Though how long will it be before said value is added? If the real value add is that you can do some voice recognition and skype with fellow players (as the adds would have us believe). Though most of the news ive read on it instead penalizes you for playing the game, in some cases literally as it relates to cursing during some of EAs sports games.

Last thought, do most people who play games really want to move around while they play and use frenetic hand gestures and voice recognition? The Wii clearly showed that people do want to interact on some level, but i dont think the Kinect has the same appeal as the WII did last generation.

I think the most interesting thing about Kinect is that it is censoring gamers who cuss. It has good intentions but it’s a step in the wrong direction. TYT did a story on this and it usually only happens to video caps, but who here hasn’t shouted a string of cuss words while gaming or watching a football game?

It’s crazy. At least the kinect can be disconnected, unlike previously announced to be hardwired to the system.

Finally, someone with some sense! While some people will enjoy the Kinect, and the movement aspect of it, there are just as many people, if not more, who do not care for it. It seems to me that Microsoft is alienating a lot of their former clientele with this forced, and costly, accessory inclusion. Their sales will increase dramatically when the price is cut and the Kinect is removed. Kinect was the only other major complaint against Microsoft, after they did their 180, but they haven’t budged so far. Once they see how dramatically Sony is outselling them, however, I believe they will finally listen to their consumers, and give them what they want; a reasonably priced gaming console without mandatory accessories.

I bought the Xbox One, and now I am wishing I didn’t. I am disappointed in the console and the services. The small things like a notification when a friend comes online, or sending a simple voice message is no more on the XB1. Those things combined with the woes of Battlefield 4 make for a dismal experience. I only hope that with future firmware updates, that it will improve the system. That being said, I am hoping for a PS4 for Christmas.

Wow! Be patient! It’s not like those features are gone for good and it’s not like Xbox One will always be how it is now at launch time. Do you remember the early 20GB Xbox 360? It is nothing like today’s 360. It was much slower and the interface was VERY different and didn’t have half the things you can do now. Updates will come and you will see Xbox One evolve into something far more amazing than it is now. You made the right choice with Xbox: Xbox Live is superior to PSN for online gaming, Battlefield 4 is getting the DLC about 3 months before Ps4 does, and our console doesn’t just do gaming like the Ps4, it does everything else you want, from voice commands, to watching TV, Music, Movies and TV Series, to running two apps at once in the screen at the same time.

Seems to me your more upset about the small things there brotha man. all the things you have listed as to why you don’t like the system are all things they can fix and will more then likly fix over time. Battelield 4 is way more playable on the x1 then it is on the ps4 at this moment as well. just hang in there and enjoy it for what it is. Also dig the user pic!

Thanks Armando. I will hang in there. I do love the XBL experience over the PSN. I am an XB fan over Sony, I just wanted the PS4 as well because I am a gamer! LOL. I just want the PS4 for the exclusive titles. All cross platform titles I always get on XB. Thanks to all you out there. Hope they get this stuff fixed so we can all enjoy our gaming.

While that may be true Israel, what you’re essentially saying is “Pay an extra $100 now in hopes that the system improves in the future”. That’s not a viable marketing technique and it’s not something customers should be expected to accept.

Israel are you serious??? as a long time MS fan I gotta say that I don’t have plans for an xboner fail. i cant justify getting an xboner seeing as ms has put more emphasis on watching tv, listening to music, watching movies and tv series, and running 2 apps at once. everyone in the world with a pc can already do such things and don’t need to spend 500.00 to do so since they already have their pc in house, also factor in the fact that ( for the sake of argument) if they have to buy a new pc due to their current being outdated they can get a storebought unit for 300.00 from walmart.

the ONLY thing the xboner fail has over a pc are the xboner fail games and exclusives, and lets face it any games that sell like wildfire will also have a shot of coming out for pc. now whether or not upgrades will be required to play these games is a different story but still the upgrades wont cost 500.00 making a pc still the obvious choice over a xboner fail console.

OMG calm down I hope you dont truly believe that PS4 has no problems going on with it just like Xbox. Battlefield woes are not because of Xbox its because of the developers, not one console is able to play a bug free BF4. They have already stated they will be releasing a update later this month and months ahead. If you gonna buy a new console you should atleast know that you have to be patient for updates!

Oh no, watch out big boys! fabian noggle is PC gaming master race, he’ll tell you all you need to know about creating machinima masterpieces on G-Mod and he even does brilliant how-to’s on eating your pizza without your helmet falling off while you play in the ballpit.

the autism is strong with these comments.

Bottom Line: PS4 is for Sony fans and people who don’t want a $1500+ PC for gaming. X1 is for people who want a set top box that also plays some pretty cool games.

my PS4 has Hulu, Netflix, plays games….. As far as I know XBONE can’t interface with my TV network anyways….. Not that I want it to. PSnetwork is cheaper (not much but hey!) than MSN and I don’t have a piece of MS hardware…… thats a win in my book

And you think the PS4 is better in that aspect?lol NOPE,, You need to wait, All them features will be back on Xbox…on the PS network you can’t do have the things that you can on Xbox Live, it has always been like that and always will, I have both PS4 and Xbox One, PS4 is really nice but still cant compare to what the Xbox One can do,, The PS4 is more powerful however but not really noticable…Xbox Live is the most powerful online community, 100k Servers vs PS 30-35k..which one do you think..lol all these numbers you can simply research and you will see im right!!

Dude,the bf4 map packs r not coming 3 months later for ps4. The only map pack was Second Assault and that was only about 2 to 3 weeks and it came for the ps4 .Don’t believe me,check China Rising DLC,it came out for ALL systems at the same time. Ps4 also has music,,and if u want to watch movies and T.V,just use Netflix. Running two app at the same time is the most stupidest thing too because r u really gonna play bf4 and watch tv at the same time,that would be really confusing if u ask me. No point in using that, and as u can probably see,the kinect doesn’t WORK EVERY single time unlike a controller which does.

@Yusuf baqai yes u right u can’t watch a movie n pla bf 4 or cod, but guess what? If u got kids it works perfect. I have 2 kids and I love the fact I can put on sponge bob and play on the box one! Not only that I’m a big sport fan so I can watch it while I’m waiting for cod to link me up to a map. Sometime it take a min to 5 min. I guess u don’t have any kids or play sports so u being narrowed minded.

Be patient? So, you think it’s okay to pay to be a beta tester? If he wants to be upset, he has every right to be since he’s a paying customer. You trying to sell XBOX over Sony is pathetic as the customer will vote with their wallets.

I guess ur right,in some in some instances it would be good,but mostly it would be annoying.When u r watching tv and then the match of bf4 starts and u have to pause every single time and switch. I think it’s more of a hassle.

you must not keep up on video games or you are a troll because ps4 cant even play battlefield 4 at all and you gripe about the xbox one every game i have plays flawlessly and xbox live is heads and tails above PSN who got hacked for personal information again for the third time so go ahead and switch i bet your back after you realize sonys sevices are the same

No one cares about talking to their consoles and watching live tv. Majority of users do not have cable anymore and watch their shows on computer. True XBL is better than PSN and more stable, but Sony is learning and also expanding the benefits of PSN. The DLC time exclusives are nothing to compare with a large library of games with PSN+. They are only timed exclusives not cosole exclusives like extra story missions to the playstation versions only. Plus Destiny’s beta comes first to PS4. And no one cares about running two apps at once. We survived without it for 7 years and no one was begging for that feature.

So many comments here make me wonder if people think before typing. If I am paying $400 for a Ps4 or $500 for an Xbox One, I don’t just expect it to play games! I expect it to do a lot more than just playing games! So far Xbox One has better games, better exclusives at launch and probably for the whole first year with the ones coming soon. Xbox has the best looking graphics in a game (go look at Ryse and Forza), has a better online network (Let’s not forget Sony’s was down for over a month and everyone’s credit information was stolen), has more content on Xbox Video and Xbox Music than Sony’s services do, and has the most efficient console out there letting you do two things at once (no it isn’t just watching TV or Netflix and playing a game…Can’t you think of anything else like keeping your friends Skype conversation open to the side or a tutorial on how to get an achievement in a game or Xbox music snapped to the side playing whatever song you want?) As for the PSN+ “benefits” there’s none on Ps4 to mention. They are not giving away any Ps4 games for free right now and there are none to give anyway. Ps4 isn’t backwards compatible so don’t expect to play your Ps3 discs on Ps4, ever, or get the current working PSN+ games on the Ps3 delivered to Ps4 anytime soon (if they ever figure out how they’ll stream the games). Xbox Live is better: They don’t give you a certain amount of games to play while you remain a subscriber, they give you two free games a month to keep FOREVER even if you stop paying for Live later on. They also give you movies and games for discounted prices and they give you rewards. The more you buy on XBL the more rewards to spend on more content you’ll get. I see a better value there. Old consoles were slow, Xbox One is a little faster than Ps4 and keeps stuff running in the background. Those who claim Ps3 or Xbox 360 weren’t slow to switch between games and other apps are plain crazy. Those two consoles, especially Ps3 with its slow updates that can’t download in the background most of the time, they seem now like turtles from decades ago. I wonder how we were able to survive first quitting a game, and then going to the right screen and picking an app that would take 3 to 10 seconds to load. Now I can just tell my Xbox what to open and it launches instantly, and I can even turn off the Xbox and come back to the game at the same point I was playing, without having to see all the menus and loading screens. Don’t defend what cannot be defended just to try and say Ps4 is better because it only focuses on gaming. Xbox One is better because it doesn’t just do games better, it does everything else better.

I’m surprised that you didn’t mention and Microsoft flatly said to investors that they would and could use Kinect data to do marketing. That fact alone creeps out people that they are being spied on by a video game console.

Paul, you clearly don’t know where Microsoft is going with Kinect/Xbox.

Last week Microsoft released a preview of Bing 3D maps for Windows 8. I fired it up and, lo and behold, my entire neighborhood was rendered in 3D, including my house. Which opens the door for video games that take place in my neighborhood. But it opens the door to all sorts of other useful apps.

Microsoft wants Xbox as the nerve center to your house. Today you talk to Xbox One. Tomorrow Xbox One talks back to you. E-mail, text messages, voice mail, video mail, Skype communication, etc. This will all take months and years to develop.

Sony is selling a video game console. In essence a toy. They don’t want to go any further than the hard core gaming crowd. They won the battle (1st month sales), but will eventually lose the war, as Kinect/Xbox fleshes out the features.

…and way in the future, Microsoft tells YOU THE CONSUMER what to do via their XBONE console. No thanks…Microsoft clearly showed its heavy hand at the launch of their new console and consumers won’t stand for it. Microsofts future is looking more and more bleak with each new (failed) product/service launch…

I agree Xbox is trying to be the jack of all trades in the living room but months/years from now we’ll have more specialized receivers and media devices that will do what the xbox can do but better and perhaps even cheaper.

Xbox one is never goign to do more, lets be honest here, and quit trying to sell fantasies. This console not is going to turn into something its not. What part of ‘abysmal failure’ don’t you understand? This is like Windows 8, Zune, Surfarce, you name it. Microsoft hasn’t had a good release since XP. Xbox One is just another Steve Ballmer insult to the customer. I am going to cancel my order with Walmart, I am in for $700 – got “stuffed” with a bundle. I fell for the hype that there was limited demand for this unit, which there is not. Back it goes untill they develop some content and bring the price down to $350 with Kinect. It won’t be long.

I have never owned a Sony console, I’ve been gaming with MS since I switched to Windows PC gaming in the mid 90s and then picked up the original Xbox at launch and the 360 in 2007. You say Sony is just releasing a “toy”, but did you ever consider that perhaps Sony just knows the market better? Gamers want gaming machines first and foremost.

Titanfall will be a huge boon for the Xbox One, it looks like the first true killer app of this new generation, and it’s a game. Skype, Kinect, and 3D Bing maps are not hardware selling apps, it is the games that sell the hardware. The more systems Sony sells over the Xbox One, the more likely they will be getting the best games first in the future.

“Last week Microsoft released a preview of Bing 3D maps for Windows 8. I fired it up and, lo and behold, my entire neighborhood was rendered in 3D, including my house. Which opens the door for video games that take place in my neighborhood.”

Things like this sound neat, but “video games that take place in your neighborhood” will invariably be a generic experience. I don’t think this is what core gamers want, experiences that basically amount to tech demos. I think they want a polished experience in other imaginative worlds, not their own.

The problem with the XBOX Done is that IT IS TRYING TO BE THE NERVE CENTER OF THE HOUSE.

It’s supposed to be a damn video game console! Why can’t you retards understand that? There’s a reason everyone (everyone who has a brain) wants the PS4. It’s just a better machine. In every way.

The XBOX Done is never going to come close. It’s trying to do everything, and it’s everything is doing is being done wrong. They will eventually bring back DRM, don’t worry. They still have that on the table. They just couldn’t push it at launch because no one would have bought the system.

“Sony is selling a video game console”.

Damn right they are. A very good one. To say they are selling a toy is laughable and makes you a damn joke.

They did everything right this generation, and Microsoft will never catch up now.

There’s a reason why I hate multi-tools,: mainly THEY DON’T EVER DO EVERYTHING THEY PROMISE T DO WELL.

The Kinect 2.0 is a piece of junk that dtill doesn’t work properly unless you do what it wants you to do instead of doing what you want it to do and quite frankly movement/voice control is nothing more than a silly gimmick that only impresses stupid people like you.

Apparently you don’t understand console gamers. Console gamers aren’t looking for a multimedia hub or living room entertainment all in one machine. If that’s what they wanted they could have just used their PCs for gaming and saved a lot of cash on unneeded extra hardware. Why do you think console gamers played console games for all those years when graphics on consoles were terrible and the PC smoked consoles in graphics and offer games not possible on consoles like Total War type games that would be hard to pull off on controllers? Because they didn’t have all the annoyances of a PC like booting up your system and navigating with menus to get where you wanted to go, downloading time consuming patches, etc. They popped in their games, turned on the power, and were playing almost instantly.

Dedicated to gaming is why consoles were popular and console gamers put up with the inferior hardware to play games. Turn them into half baked PC wannabes and you remove all the advantages they had over PCs and now turn them into a lesser quality version of most PCs. People who are into their gadgets doing a million different things and expect consoles to do that to are a very small minority amongst console owners. Pandering to that small group isn’t going to win any war. The console can have 500 different functions and menus options to do any number of things but 90% of gamers are going to use it for playing games and watching movies and nothing else. Might as well say “Oh but my console can be used as a paperweight” included to the long list of other useless things it does when trying to be an entertainment hub.

Bathswana…You do realize the Playstation EyE is 50$ cheaper and will be able to do EVERYTHING the xbone Kinnect does, eventually right?? Sony has won the battle at the start and will win in the end cuz the Xbox just doesn’t offer anything the PS3 cant/wont be able to do in the future. PS4 was made ready to fight right out of the gate. The Xbone was not and that was a grave error in judgement on MS’s part. Plus most exclusive titles normally make it to PC. Where as more playstation exclusives remain PS only.

My fiancé bought me the XB1 last week…it was a late birthday and early xmas present. with that being said.. I actually like Xbox, ive had every version of it from the original to the newest. since the original xbox people have complained about the new ones, either with cost or lack of games. Do the launch games play well..YES, are they using the most out of the console? NO! Launch games maybe use 60 to 70% of the system’s actual hardware capabilities, and that’s for both Xb1 and PS4. I got 2 games with the Xbox1.. Forza and its drivataur which actually works and I have fun playing it even though ive never had a racing game since the Sega. And Zumba World Fitness for my fiancé. She tried the Kinect 1.0 and didn’t like it because it wouldn’t follow her like she wanted it to and it would mess her up and she would get frustrated. NOW, however, she is playing it more then me…I come home from work to find her on the XB1 doing her work outs and she thinks the new Kinect is 1000 times better. This is a matter of preference really, and yes there are going to be nay sayers on both sides of this. But give it a few months and when games are produced that use the entire system people will see its not as horrible as people are raging about.

This article is way off. Was it ordered to be written by Sony? The Kinect is there for a reason, and it isn’t like the only game to ever come out and take advantage of it is the fighting game. This console is going to have well over 5 years of life, maybe up to 10, so many better games will come. Have you tried the FREE Kinect Sports Pre-Season? The FREE Xbox Fitness? They respond to movement PERFECTLY fine. How about the fact that you can shout at Zombies in Dead Rising to get their attention or command your roman soldiers in Ryse to cover you or fire a catapult at the enemies?

The fact that you dismiss Kinect so easily without explaining all its features shows the bias. Kinect identifies you and logs you in as a user of the Xbox (the potential of this, multiple users on one console, points to the unification of Windows 8 with the Xbox One OS and the Windows Store and its apps) and it can see you even if the light is off. The amount of voice commands you can give to Kinect is a much larger list than whatever PS4 and its camera offer. There’s no comparison at all between the two, and as they make it work better and failed commands are brought down to 0, your article will slowly lose its validity piece by piece. The fact that EVERY Xbox One sold comes with Kinect lets developers know EVERYONE who has an Xbox One has the Kinect so they should use it a lot more in the games. On the Sony side, people might or might not have the camera, so they won’t care to use the camera. Let’s not forget getting home and just saying Xbox On… no need to go grab a controller, no need to touch the console, and it powers on your tv, your set top box and your A/V receiver if you configure it like that. Ps4 will never have HDMI pass through, so hands down, Kinect is completely worth it, you can do all non gaming activities without touching a controller, and you can watch TV and change channels just by using your voice. If you don’t see not only Kinect’s value, but the overall value of Xbox One compared to Ps4 in all those little details, which means a better quality of life, then you must be blind, Sony blind.

Israel I’m afraid you are just as blind, but you simply prefer the XBox. The examples you give of the scenarios where the Kinect is effective in games comes down to *audio*. So that extra $100 attachment is essentially a microphone. I do typically shout at my TV while I’m playing a game, but it’s more frustration than game interaction. Also the Dead Rising effect is a cheap gimmick, any sound you make draws their attention? Hardly next-gen.

From my experience with voice- and motion-capture environments, they leave a lot to be desired. It will simply never be as accurate as using a controller of some kind.

And you constantly ignore the benefit PS4 has of simply trying to be a gaming system. Not everyone wants to centralize everything they do to the XBox console. I have my computer and smartphone for social media. I have a Blu-ray player for movies and Netflix. I have a DVR through my cable company for recording shows. I don’t see why I have to change everything I do to fit Microsoft’s formula.

Anyone remember the red ring of death? You’re naive to think something similar won’t happen to the XBox1. Or if Microsoft decides to go back to their original DRM-happy plans of eliminating the pre-owned gaming market. And the moment it happens, you might regret that centralized entertainment system.

I don’t think its way off. As a gaming accessory it is limited. It isn’t precise enough to be competitive so it will be relegated to dance/fitness game duty. Until it can read your intention accurately there really is no place for it in competitive gaming. Even in single player games, its lack of precision can make perfectly good games frustrating. It is something that first party devs will need to think about and not make some novel “waggle” type of control.

I agree as a living room set top box, it excels. There’s that sense of futuristic feel to it but it can be optional. For pure gamers they should have that option to pay 100 less and get a great gaming machine.

Anyway, the article isn’t necessarily saying Kinect isn’t worth it, for some its perfectly worth it, but make it an accessory and sell systems and games. That technology will always be there for those who want it. With this tech out there now, don’t you think there will be other media devices that may do the same thing, perhaps even better in the future?

exactly man…. Why is it so wrong to want to merge gaming and entertainment… I loved it on my 360 and after figuring out Snap and how the New Kinect works… I love the Xbox one… it can only get better … im sure dev at microsoft will miss seeing theyre friends come online and miss chating with people still on the 360… I know those feat are coming with updates… Be patient… I mean i still use my 360 so its no big deal waiting for me… but idiots like this guy who wrote this article are just non patient non average gamers trying to speak for a group they dont even respresent…

Pure gamers are going to love the features that come. People who love call of duty or Halo will love being able to say xbox record. Seriously, everyone reviewing the xbox one keeps saying that hard core gamers won’t like it. It comes down to games, quality, and knowing your audience. Hasbro made new versions of its board games because the children today don’t have the patience…yet people think they won’t like being able to surf TV or Netflix without a remote??? Really?

Just watch enough kids interact with both and it becomes clear that Xbox may lose out in the beginning, but they will crush it in the end, regardless of price point. ALSO, the ps3 was far more expensive and it did fine. Time will tell, but I always bet on ease of use. Not having to look for a remote in America…lol, I’d buy Microsoft stock on that alone.

but this comes down to MSFT shoving the kinect down peoples throats. I wouldn’t want it. What you call a “better quality of life” I call not worth the trouble. This is why we have competition in the market. People have CHOICE!!!! GOD BLESS CAPITALISM!!!!

Are u seriously that lazy and fat that u can’t walk five steps to ur controller and turn it on. It’s not THAT hard to do unless ur some fat-ass that plays xb1 the whole day. Ps eye can do AT LEAST 50% of the stuff kinect does and those things are stuff i’m actually going to use such as voice recognization and things like that. Developers don’t really care about how everybody has a kinect because they don’t want to WASTE TIME on one system and not do it for the other while they are at it so they will make features for both. So go ahead and play ur $100 kinect and ur $60 membership u need to have to play at least 50%of the xb1 features while us sony fans have to pay $50 for membership,get free games every month,and ur not required to get ps plus to use ps4 features.

@KirkenM,the record option isn’t THAT cool because ps has something like t on it’s controller,its called the share button. All you have to do is move ur hand and click it. Not THAT hard.And guess what,it’s going to be more accurate that the kinect

The kinect is only there because the greedy suits at MS realized that no one wanted the damned thing in the first place so they decided to force consumers to buy something the vast majority of whom find voice/movement control to be a useless gimmick that isn’t worth the time to use and don’t want.

Well… I just read the 7 comments below this initial post. Once again as in any case regarding the “console wars” it looks to be about a 50/50 split between the parties (considering no one seems to care at all about the Wii U – “why Nintendo why?”). In my opinion regarding the initial post I must say that the whole “don’t have to push a button to turn on your system!” argument is absolutely incredible and horrible all at the same time. All the while shaking my head saying to myself, “Oh yeah? I forget this this is the fattest country in the world and looks to continue to expand its wasteline with comments like this.”

The ads for the XB1 also amaze me that they hype the hell out of the “recrod this!” feature and that bubble pops up like the “friend so & so has logged in” on the PS3 (which I find annoying). Doesn’t the PS4 have a “share button” or something where it captures whatever is happening at that moment? Not to mention is recording all the time, only covering the latest 15 minutes of play? Finally the whole “facial recognition” thing is “ohhh ahhh” Star Trek like and all, yet when they showed it in the ad?!? That guy’s playing soccer (or something) and that leggy blond walks into the room behind him and without warning “Hello Jennifer” pops up in the middle of the GD screen interrupting whatever the hell he was doing? That would piss me off to no end. I haven’t bought either yet as I prefer NOT to be an early adopter, let them work out the kinks and see what each “truly” has to offer after 1-2 years then i can get it for not only $100 less (or more) but I can also know exactly what to expect entirely both good or bad from the system and its accessories.

Do you agree or do I sound like nothing more than a “basher/critic” of the company? Because I’m only pointing out those things I’ve (so far) seen objectionable about the system especially at the current price point. Thanks for reading!

My problem with the Kinect is the creepy feeling that I’m being watched, or might be at any time. Not so long ago I would have laughed at my own seeming paranoia. Not any more, given the technology and the desire of private and government hackers to expand their boundaries. Now I see that you can pay $23 for a scap of plastic that fits over the camera lens to insure privacy.

These accessories only add to the cost of product development, yet most serious gamers are happy with their joysticks with innovations like a touchpad for the PS4. A player biometric engine could be developed to provide an AI interface that integrates video, audio, motion and gestures but that’s going to cost money too so it better be a major leap above the current conventions.

You do realized Sony has launch in more countries. And to say the Microsoft has lost only after two weeks is a little ridiculous. Both of this console will be very successful and sell millions of units.

And speaking of privacy, while submitting a comment about this story Forbes repeatedly wants access to my profile, my friends, and permission to contact my friends. Thanks for asking first, but why would I want an advertiser annoying my friends just to be able to post a comment?

My issue is with the Kinect and also XBOX customer service. I had my Kinect work for 3 hours. I call and the rep told me to send everything in. So I did what she said, but she only put the order in for a Kinect exchange. My console is sitting somewhere in Texas when I only had to send in the sensor. It’s been 2 weeks and all they offered me was an extra month of XBOX Live. It supposedly got escalated to their “Tier 3″ team and I have been waiting for 3 days for a call back. I’m out of a system, $500+ and a lame excuse from them about how sorry they are.

I bought both consoles at launch and they both have good and bad points, The Battlefield 4 matchmaking problems are effecting both systems so you can’t hold that against only Microsoft, that is EA’s fault as usual. The games are better on the Xbox One and will continue to be in the future and that will save the console. I am not a fan of Kinect but I can see where they are going with it and understand why but it should have been optional. Since its the highest quality part of the system they probably could have dropped $120 or more off the overall price by selling it separate. The PS4 is more solid overall RIGHT NOW but the Xbox one is built more for the future..

As a gamer you really can’t go wrong with either console and the decision should be based on what games you’ll be playing. People keep saying wait for the future with Xbox, the future will only bring more competition from other companies like Apple which may integrate with Ipad and Iphone better than MS. Even look for Android based media devices to integrate with their mobile OS. Sure Xbox has the potential to be better, but why buy now based on potential. A gaming system isn’t an investment.

In the future, people will have 40 dollar devices that do everything that the Xbox One does in TV features. The 35 dollar Chromecast is basically already there.

Halo and Gears aren’t very good. Just dudebro shooters. Best game for the 360 was Alan Wake, but I guess most Xbox players didn’t dig it.

The days when the Fable series showed promise are long gone. Meanwhile, PlayStation games are winning Game of the Decade, and Game of the Generation awards left and right. And that’s not even getting into the fact that games aren’t going to look as good on the Xbox One. So do you still maintain that Xbox One games have the advantage?

XBOX ONE is selling all available units they are making them as fast as they can and Sony is doing the same.

As to MSFT making price cuts, well my response is simply. MSFT has a growing cash pile close to 100 BILLION dollars. Now tell me again how they cant cut the price, because Microsoft, like Apple makes more money than some countries, and they can sell the xbox dirt cheap if they wish.

I agree with Paul’s point, the Kinect should be an add-on so xb1 competes on price with ps4. If PS4 wins it will be because of the price.

The xbox team should have made a $350 price point a design criteria for the system. Even now if they price it at $420, they can make up the loss in a year of software and services sales. With most users signing up for xbox live, every missed console sale is a missed revenue stream.

By the time Microsoft get’s their future games and service integration running, the XBox TWO will be out. Consumers would be smart to pass on the XBONE also because Microsoft has already announced they are considering selling off the whole division.

Price alone isn’t the issue here. MS have chosen to use hardware that is quite old.. DDR3 Memory, graphics cards, etc are what was in a decent PC 3+ years ago.. Compared to the ps4 it’s a no brainer really. Couple this with developers wanting their games to look the best and run the smoothest, which one do you think they’ll develop on?

In the past different CPU types were more difficult to program, these are both x86/64 and from internals should be more straight forward that ever to code for. Die hard xbox fans will go for the xbox whereas anyone who knows about the technology will go for the PS4 with it’s superior hardware.

This said, I’m buying neither yet (when I do it WILL be the PS4). The games currently out do nothing for me, nothing special nothing that shows off either console. MS paying a developer to hold back on releasing the ps4 one for a month or 3 – well…. that says a lot about their confidence in the box!

Enjoy your new consoles though, we will see things getting pretty good, and the speed of development on both are likely to be faster than ever before – Which also means the box will reach it’s hardware limititations pretty quick :(

As for the PS4 – lets hope they don’t go removing (stealing) features from users – I bought a PS3 to install Linux, My Son wanted to play his PS2 games – both features removed.. Sony are lucky for Treyarchs Zombies – that’s my forté now.

Both companies need to up their awareness of security – ‘Windows’ says a lot about m$ take on that. Sony P’ing people off so bad that they get hacked says a lot about them too. If Nintendo had a TRUE up to date hardware console out, that’s where my money would go – a reliable, responsible company.

Now – how do we develop on these, need to polish up my x86 assembler and see what the PS4 can do :) If anyone remembers assembly language these days, lol

“Take away Kinect, and you have two $400 system that are more or less equivalent. PS4 might have a slight edge in power, but I think Xbox One has a better launch line-up with the promise of more good exclusives on the horizon (Titanfall).”

My husband has a few good friends who are working on projects for these systems. Honestly they have said the PS4 has a decent power advantage. My husband, who does graphics coding, said that just specs alone show you the advantage. And then they tell him that it is more than some can openly admit in the media.

As for the games it does appear that MS has the early advantage with games. Titanfall seems to be a huge one. But it appears that after the first one that is it. And Sony has some very good studios themselves that will announce projects so I would expect some great things there. Launch lineup is not going to be what makes the biggest difference either. Sony already has a lead and will for some time. Then you know they will announce more games as those studios of theirs are not idle. That could be a big blow as well because now they have even more.

What really makes me wonder for MS is that we are an Xbox family. 4 360 units that we play online together. We have purchased units that we gave to other family and close friends. My kids and all their friends play. And most of them are going PS4. Not 1 has said they want an Xbox One. And that is a lot of people. And they were mostly 360 exclusive (we do own a PS3 for my husband but it is played rarely) like we generally are. A few have already purchased PS4 and are getting family and friends to purchase as well. I could see this being big for MS. The biggest fans will purchase but then they lose the others. And they have lost some of the biggest fans like my husband.

This is my personal opinion on the matter not to induce any rage coming from other personal beliefs or opinions. I think the Kinect is a smart piece of technology that the current software can grow around. Voice control is a trend that is currently evolving in this entertainment industry. For instant I just saw a commercial I believe it was Direct TV voice control cable service. There are already smart TVs on the market and new one coming down the pipeline. Xbox is what it says it is in my opinion because of current trends in entertainment roll into one service for ones own preference. The funny thing is I only seen that commercial because I was watching tv through the Xbox One. Coming from a gamer that usually only watches Netflix, play games or watch football and my favorite tv show the Walking Dead. I hardly every watch tv besides that until now. The Xbox, Kinect, and Hdmi passthrough integrated into one offered an experience that surprised me how well everything worked together. You can have a smart tv or your choosing from brands to features or you can own an Xbox and choose whatever TV you want at any given time and turn that TV into a smart TV. Lets not forget great games on top of that. The Kinect may not be used for games at top notch yet because it takes time with all things to evolve but for the current entertainment features voice controlled apps and games instant switching and snapping two apps at once on your living room TV is far from a downer. After all. Attitude affects experience.